So far, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have received the most Ukrainian refugees, and in the event of a new, larger refugee wave, “that will have to change,” Faeser said.
Faeser added that she doesn’t currently expect another large refugee surge and that it’s “just a scenario” ministers have to discuss. Germany will stand by Ukraine “as long as Putin’s terrible attack against Ukraine continues,” she said.
Europe’s political leaders rushed to X, formerly Twitter, to throw their support behind Ukraine after U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance held a shouting match with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the Oval Office.
But the topic of Ukrainian refugees taps into European reservations on taking in migrants, with deportations high on the agenda of an EU meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, who said he’d use his Brussels visit to formally inform the European Commission of the brand new Austrian government‘s intention to halt family reunification, treated the prospect of more Ukrainian refugees in much the same vein.
Per capita, Austria has “clearly taken in more [refugees] than many other countries,” Karner told reporters. The country “has made its contribution” and now wants to focus on the integration of the people who are already there, he said, “That’s also the reason why we’re now stopping family reunification.”
